This Government is committed to further improving the diversity of housing options available to older people and boosting the supply of specialist elderly accommodation.

The Older People's Housing taskforce will look at ways we can provide greater choice, quality and security of housing for older people, and support the growth of a thriving older people's housing sector in this country. This work will be taken forward in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care. Further details about the taskforce including panel membership and scope will be confirmed in due course.

This Government is committed to ensuring older and disabled people can access homes that best suits their needs.

We work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to provide capital funding to incentivise supply. This includes investing £11.5 billion in the new Affordable Homes Programme, which includes delivery of new specialist or supported housing for older, disabled and other vulnerable people. We have also committed £573 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant each year from 2022-23 to 2024-25 to support eligible older and disabled people to adapt their homes to suit their needs.

As announced in the Levelling Up White Paper, we will shortly launch a new government taskforce to look at ways we can provide better choice, quality and security of housing for older people.

Boosting the supply of a range of specialist housing across the country is key to our aim of ensuring older people can access the right homes to suit their needs. We work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to provide capital funding to incentivise supply.

Since 2010, we have delivered over 574,100 new affordable homes, including specialist housing for older people, through our investment in affordable housing.

We know that communities would welcome more homes, so long as they are the right sort of homes, are well designed and have the right supporting infrastructure. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill centres these interests, and will change the plan-making system, creating incentives to have a plan in place, with this plan having more weight in planning decisions. This will give certainty to communities and applicants about what can be built and where, supporting more permissions for development communities want.

The Government is committed to delivering tailored, needs-based support to assist victims of modern slavery in their recovery.

The Recovery Needs Assessment (RNA) was introduced on 27 September 2019. Throughout the design and implementation of the Recovery Needs Assessment we engaged with our primary support provider, The Salvation Army, and our network of specialist support providers who work closely with victims on a daily basis.

We are committed to embedding survivor voice in our policy development. In 2020 we undertook work engaging with survivors directly, to better understand their recovery needs and their experiences of the National Referral Mechanism.

We are engaging with survivors, as well as the broader sector, on a new government strategy to tackle modern slavery, alongside ongoing work to improve the victim journey through the RNA process.

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.

The department does not hold information on the subjects offered by individual schools and colleges. However, the department does publish the number of entries into GCSE Citizenship and A level Citizenship Studies, which can be used as a guide to how many schools and colleges offer these qualifications.

GCSE Citizenship was first introduced as a full course in academic year 2010/11 and the earliest national data held by the department is available for academic year 2011/12. In 2011/12, 10,474 pupils at the end of key stage 4 were entered for GCSE Citizenship and 237 schools entered pupils. In 2018/19, 18,098 pupils at the end of key stage 4 were entered for GCSE Citizenship and 570 schools entered pupils.

A level Citizenship studies became operational in September 2008 and this qualification ended operation in July 2019. There were no pupils aged 16 to 18 who were entered for A level Citizenship studies in academic years 2008/09 or 2018/19. The 2008/09 figure is not published separately but has been included as part of ‘other social studies’ up until and including 2017/18.

The department does not hold information on the subjects offered by individual schools and colleges. However, the department does publish the number of entries into GCSE Citizenship and A level Citizenship Studies, which can be used as a guide to how many schools and colleges offer these qualifications.

GCSE Citizenship was first introduced as a full course in academic year 2010/11 and the earliest national data held by the department is available for academic year 2011/12. In 2011/12, 10,474 pupils at the end of key stage 4 were entered for GCSE Citizenship and 237 schools entered pupils. In 2018/19, 18,098 pupils at the end of key stage 4 were entered for GCSE Citizenship and 570 schools entered pupils.

A level Citizenship studies became operational in September 2008 and this qualification ended operation in July 2019. There were no pupils aged 16 to 18 who were entered for A level Citizenship studies in academic years 2008/09 or 2018/19. The 2008/09 figure is not published separately but has been included as part of ‘other social studies’ up until and including 2017/18.

My Lords, as announced in the recent levelling-up White Paper, we will shortly launch a new government task force on the issue of older people’s housing. It will look at ways to provide better choice, quality and security of housing for older people. This work will be taken forward in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care and sector experts. Further details will be announced in due course.

My Lords, lasting powers of attorney—LPAs—offer vital protections where someone lacks the mental capacity to make their own decisions. While abuse is concerning, thankfully it is rare. Some 5 million LPAs are registered with the Office of the Public Guardian and in the year 2020-21, that office investigated 1,971, taking action in 675 cases. We cannot be complacent with older people at increased risk of abuse and we recently consulted on modernising LPAs to improve safeguards. The response to that consultation is due in the spring.

The FCDO Minister responsible for gender and equalities is Vicky Ford. I am the Minister responsible for open societies and human rights.

As part of our review of Part M of the building regulations, we have commissioned research on the experience of disabled people, which will inform future policy and potential upgrades to the statutory guidance for fixed items and spaces in buildings, including sanitary provision for disabled people.

The United Kingdom opposes the use of chemical weapons in all circumstances. We take seriously any credible evidence of the use of chemical weapons. We monitor closely allegations of chemical weapons use in northern Iraq. These remain unsubstantiated. Evidence of chemical weapons use should be provided through appropriate channels to the Technical Secretariat Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Partiya Karkeren Kurdistani (PKK) has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK since 2001. The Government does not routinely comment on intelligence matters, including the threat posed by specific proscribed organisations.

The Terrorism Act 2000 allows the Home Secretary to proscribe a group if she has a reasonable belief that it is currently concerned in terrorism and proscription is proportionate action to take. It is this statutory test which the Government applies when considering whether to proscribe an organisation or maintain an extant listing.

The UK is committed to protecting the human rights of all people at all stages of their lives. FCDO programmes consider the needs of older people, such as through our health systems strengthening and assistive technology activities alongside smaller more targeted projects, such as on social protection. In line with FCDO's commitment to the Inclusive Data Charter, we aim to disaggregate programme data by age, sex and disability where possible, to help us understand the effectiveness and impact of our work.

The forthcoming International Development Strategy will establish an ambitious vision informed by the new global context, aligned with our strategic development goals and demonstrate how the UK plans to remain a global leader on development. The forthcoming refreshes of the Disability Inclusion Strategy and Strategic Vision for Gender Equality will retain a life cycle approach to deliver transformative change for all.

Music can play an important part in supporting people who are living with dementia. Last year, NHS England and NHS Improvement facilitated three webinars resulting in the publication of guidance for social prescribing link workers to expand music prescriptions. We will be setting out a new dementia strategy in 2022. As part of that development, we are working in collaboration with stakeholders, including people affected by dementia, and will explore the role of arts and music-based interventions.

Details of UK bilateral Official Development Assistance (ODA) to China between 2009 to 2019 can be found in table A4b of the Statistics on International Development (SID), published on the gov.uk website at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/920048/Table-A4b.ods. Please note in line with SID revision policy there has been a minor revision to the 2019 SID dataset. A data processing error in reporting meant that the published 2019 figure of UK ODA spend in China was £500,000 lower than the actual spend [as the Grant in Aid ODA for the Great Britain-China Centre (GBCC) was mistakenly attributed to 'developing countries unspecified']

Further details on the programmes that underpin the figures in table A4b, including project titles and descriptions, can be found in the ODA activity level datasets published on gov.uk: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921034/Data_Underlying_SID_2019.ods (for 2017-2019) and https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/695435/data-underlying-the-sid2017-revision-March.ods (for 2009 - 2016).

Her Majesty's Government's final 2020 ODA spend, including country data, will be published in the 'Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend' in autumn 2021.

Local authorities in England receive a public health grant to support their statutory duty to improve the health of their population. The public health grant to local authorities in England has increased from £3.279 billion in 2020/21 to £3.324 billion in 2021/22.

The NHS Long Term Plan commits to a range of actions to prevent ill health, including the prevention of up to 150,000 heart attacks, strokes and dementia cases over a 10 year period. Although no formal assessment has yet been made on the effects on investing in preventative healthcare on waiting lists and demand, it is estimated there will be a significant positive impact on National Health Service waiting lists as part of recovery from the pandemic. Preventative interventions can deliver significant health benefits for individuals as well as reducing the burden of preventable illness on the NHS.

My Lords, occupancy levels are hard to measure precisely. However, data from providers indicate that occupancy rates in care homes for older people have been adversely affected by the pandemic. We have made over £6 billion available, through grants that are not ring-fenced, to help councils tackle the impact of Covid-19 on services, including adult social care. We have made it clear to councils that this funding can be used to help offset the impact of temporary reductions in occupancy.

The UK is clear that human rights are universal and is committed to protecting the human rights of all persons, including older persons. The UK recognises that there can be barriers to the enjoyment of human rights associated with certain characteristics, including age, and we know that older persons often face serious human rights issues in many parts of the world. We are supportive, in principle, of a multilateral instrument dedicated to the rights of older persons, and welcome the UN Open Ended Working Group on Ageing's work to help deepen our understanding of the important issues, before we consider what might be the most appropriate solution. There is currently no draft Convention for the UK to consider ratifying. We will continue to work closely with Parliament, academia, civil society and national human rights institutions, to draw on their expertise and ensure that our approach takes account of their views.

The information is not available in the format requested. Data on care home occupancy has not been systematically collected from care homes, whose residents are a mix of publicly and self-funded clients.